While police officer Dennis Liptak is back at the hospital to undergo more testing, the man who police say hit him over the head with a hammer appeared before a judge.

With his lawyer close by his side, 22-year-old Garrett Shaw pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges, including assault with intent to murder. Shaw is accused of hitting Northampton police officer Dennis Liptak in the head with this hammer on New Year's Eve after getting caught trying to break-in to a Pleasant Street computer store.

Mark Wineburg is the owner of YES Computers. He says Shaw first broke into an upstairs apartment, but when he ran into the tenants, tried to burglarize the computer store below. Police say the suspect was trying to use the hammer to break in to the store from the back. Officer Liptak was alone when he spotted Shaw, who allegedly hit the policeman with the hammer and a piece of plywood.

"Our main concern was the officer, they are great around here, they take great care of us, they do a lot, " says Wineburg.

Officer Liptak suffered a serious head injury, and according to court documents was punched in the face several times. The documents also state Shaw threatened to kill him. As of Friday night, Officer Liptak was back at Cooley Dickinson undergoing more testing, to make sure he doesn't have swelling in his brain.

Shaw was held on a 25-thousand dollar bail and will appear back in court next month. That's when many people hope they will get more answers to why someone would assault a police officer.

"It says something about the person who would do that, it's good that he's behind bars, " admits Wineburg.